The storm outside was nothing compared to the storm inside him.
Emir had never been patient. Not when it came to Beren.
And tonight? Patience didn't exist.
His body caged hers against the cold wall, but he was the real danger here. His dark green eyes were feral, locked onto her, drinking in every sharp breath, every quiver of her lips.
He was drowning her in his presence—suffocating, intoxicating, inevitable.
Beren's pulse pounded.
She needed air, needed space, needed—
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her voice was a whisper.
Emir's lips curled into something lethal. "Like what, Butterfly?"
Like you're mine.Like I'll ruin you.Like I already have.
She didn't say it. But he knew. He always knew.
Beren swallowed, forcing her gaze away, but Emir wasn't having it.
His fingers gripped her chin, turning her face back to him. Slow. Firm. Inescapable.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
Her breath hitched.
This man.
This impossible, dangerous, maddening man.
She should fight back. Should shove him away. Should—
"I hate you." The words were out before she could stop them.
Emir? He laughed.
Low. Dark. Amused.
"No, you don't."
And then—he shattered the last bit of space between them.
His lips crashed against hers, devouring, claiming. But it wasn't just a kiss. It was war.
A vicious, brutal, unstoppable war.
Emir kissed like he owned her—like he had the right to.
And the worst part?
Beren let him.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer when she should be pushing him away. But how could she? How could she when he kissed like this?
Like he'd waited forever.Like he'd burn the world down for her.Like he already had.
His hands weren't still—they never were.
Fingers tracing her jaw, gripping her waist, pressing into her skin like he wanted to brand himself onto her.
Beren was losing herself.
And Emir?
He had never been more in control.